Southeast Neighborhoods - ABC Streets

Southeast Quadrant - ABC Streets

ABC Streets neighborhood residents enjoy the best of city living. Within walking distance from their quiet, tree-filled historic streets, they can find a wealth of retail, restaurant and recreation opportunities.

The area was formerly called the CHAP21 Neighborhood, an acronym that combined the names of streets--Culver/Colby (C), Harvard St. (H), ABC Streets (A), Park Ave. (P)--and its Ward, the 21st. Ward is an older term that was used to identify City neighborhoods. CHAP21 residents organized in 1985 in response to the possible impact on their homes from the Can of Worms reconstruction project (I490/I590) and sound barrier construction. The expressway had replaced the subway bed that replaced the old Erie Canal that once followed the route of 490 behind many homes on Harvard St. A remnant of this historic waterway can still be seen on the 490W exit ramp to Culver Road behind the ABC Streets neighborhood.

The ABC Streets Neighborhood Association was formed in 1986 with nine officers. At the end of the decade, most neighborhood issues revolved around parking or noise problems. By 2005, an active Association in partnership with other neighborhood associations helped to get the City’s Noise Ordinance amended.

In 2010, the neighborhood was renamed the “ABC Streets,” in recognition of its alphabetical collection of names of famous scientists, naturalists and inventors. In orderly fashion, streets commemorate Audubon, Beverly, Calumet, Colby, Darwin, Ericsson, Faraday, Girard and Homer. The neighborhood boundaries are the east side of Culver Road, Harvard Street to the sough and Park Avenue to the north. The academic connection doesn’t continue with Harvard Street, however. According to the Neighborhood Association’s online historic timeline, Harvard Street, laid out in 1870, was named for a developer's brother-in-law, not for the Ivy League University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The population of the neighborhood is as diverse as its home styles. Many long-time residents, newlyweds, young families with small children, empty nesters, young professionals and college students create a varied and vibrant neighborhood.

Notable ABC Streets neighbors included the legendary doctor to George Eastman, who was known to walk his pet cheetah around the neighborhood on a leash in the early 20th century. Nationally respected Gannett Newspaper film critic Jack Garner and wife Bonnie have lived in the neighborhood for many years.

The non-profit ABC Streets Neighborhood Association’s website publicizes events and shares information among neighbors both social and practical, including a “Contractors We Like” page. It also holds an annual summer picnic, a winter holiday party, neighborhood caroling, with wine tours and beer tastings.

While nearby Cobbs Hill offers plentiful green space and picnic grounds beside Lake Riley, the neighborhood takes proud ownership of a small triangular-shaped green space located on the corner of Culver Road and Harvard Street. The Park was first listed in the City of Rochester Parks Directory in 1913. In 1975, it was rededicated by then-Mayor Tom Ryan.

In 2010, Morrison Park was replanted through a partnership between the Neighborhood Association and the City Department of Recreation and Youth Services. Well-known landscape firm Zaretsky and Associates donated a design that incorporated the Association’s desire to “enhance the classic aesthetics of the neighborhood and minimizes the maintenance costs.” New planting included dogwood, american elm, hydrangea and forsythia bushes. Neighborhood Artist Dick Lubey, assisted by Mary Nicosia, transformed a traffic control box into a faux cobblestone park column.

The Neighborhood Association continues to grow community spirit through communal planting days or through a recent “Morrison Park Weed and Feed.” Residents met to weed the Park and later share a meal together to celebrate work well done.

Additional Information

If you would like additional information on this neighborhood, please contact the Southeast Quadrant Neighborhood Service Center: